Roy Barnes

Roy Eugene Barnes (11 March 1948-) was Governor of Georgia (D) from 11 January 1999 to 13 January 2003, succeeding Zell Miller and preceding Sonny Perdue.

Biography
Roy Eugene Barnes was born in Mableton, Georgia on 11 March 1948, the son of a family of general store owners. He graduated from the University of Georgia in 1969 with a history degree, and he graduated from law school in 1972. In 1974, he was elected to the Georgia State Senate as a member of the Democratic Party, serving eight terms in the senate. In 1998, he was elected Governor of Georgia, and he banned lobbyist gifts to the 56,000 executive branch employees in the state, removed the Confederate insignia from the Georgia state flag, eliminated tenure for newly-hired teachers, signed into law acts that protected children from being killed through child abuse, and proposed highway safety measures. In 2002, Republican Party candidate Sonny Perdue defeated Barnes during the gubernatorial election, and he returned to a legal career. In 2010, he won 43% of the vote during the gubernatorial election, losing to Perdue.